A typical wireless network includes many transmit points (TPs) that span a coverage area and can be grouped into one or more coordinating sets referred to as virtual transmit points (VTPs). A VTP includes one or more TPs that coordinate according to a protocol, such as dynamic point selection (DPS) or joint transmission (JT). A TP, sometimes referred to as a cell, is any access point (AP), or sector thereof, for the network. Network communication is further divided into time and frequency resource blocks. The member TPs of each VTP in the network can vary according to demand. For a given resource block, there are one or more VTP configurations that specify the TP composition of each VTP. A VTP configuration is selected for the given resource block according to measurements of the channels among the various TPs and user equipments (UEs), where the measurements are made by the UEs and fed back to the network.
A UE is served by a VTP for a given resource block. The VTP that serves a given UE can vary with each resource block. The selection of a VTP to serve the given UE, as well as certain transmission parameters, can be made according to the measurements of the channels.
UE measurements are made based on a transmission of a pilot from a TP to the UE. The TP typically broadcasts the pilot toward multiple UEs that then make their measurements and report, or feed-back, the results to the network. UE measurements are typically made at an overhead cost, which includes the network and processing resources required to transmit pilots, make measurements, and transmit the measurements back to the network. The network, typically through a controller, or base station, aggregates the measurements, selects a VTP configuration, and respectively assigns a VTP to serve each UE. The controller weighs the measurements against the interference, overhead, and accuracy requirements for the network.